His first published short story
(not about Sherlock Holmes) was "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" in
1879 — a
startling success. His first novel, A Study
in Scarlet, appeared in Beeton's Christmas Annual for 1887 and introduced Sherlock Holmes to the world.

ACD lived for a time in
South Norwood, a suburb of London, and later near Hindhead, Surrey.
A campaign is
continuing to preserve Undershaw, the house at Hindhead where he lived
from 1896 to 1907.
His final residence was at
Crowborough, Sussex.

He was the author of more than 50 books, including historical novels (most famous The
White Company), science fiction (Professor Challenger), domestic comedy, seafaring adventure, the
comic adventures of Brigadier
Gerard, the
supernatural, poetry, military history, many other subjects.

He wrote the comic play
'Jane
Annie' jointly with James Barrie, creator of Peter Pan.

In 1893, ACD "killed" Sherlock Holmes by reporting his apparent death in "The Final
Problem", last story of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. He wanted to
devote time
and attention to his "more serious" writings. Holmes was
briefly brought back in The Hound of the Baskervilles, 1901, then
revived in "The Empty House", 1903, and subsequent tales.

He was knighted (becoming "Sir Arthur") in 1902 to recognize his work in
Boer War propaganda (particularly
the pamphlet The War in South Africa: Its Cause and Conduct)
— and, some said, because of the publication of The Hound of the
Baskervilles.

A constant writer of letters to the editor and crusader for social
reforms, he was especially interested in criminal justice (he took a personal role
in the
George
Edalji and Oscar Slater cases), military strategy (though
he never served in the armed forces), public health, sports
(cricket,
boxing, the Olympics), divorce law reform, Belgian exploitation of the
Congo, and the
Piltdown
hoax. He twice ran unsuccessfully for Parliament. ACD
visited
Canada in 1914, when Lady Conan Doyle kept
a diary that can
be viewed online through technology from the Toronto
Reference Library. (ACD also made Canadian visits in 1894, 1922, and
1923.)

ACD and Spiritualism

A life-long interest in psychic matters
led him to acknowledge
Spiritualism as
his faith; he spent the years
from 1918 to his death preaching Spiritualism around the
world and writing books
and pamphlets in support of it (The New Revelation, 1918). Principal beliefs included the survival of personality after death and the possibility of
communication (through mediums) between this world and the next.